From 1 to 10 August, 2020, the “Media Advocate” initiative followed online media reports on the Minister Arayik Harutyunyan’s personality and activities. 35 leading Armenian news agencies have been monitored.
In the specified period, 355 articles were declared, 204 of which were negative, 5 were positive and 146 were neutral.
RA Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Arayik Harutyunyan is among the most criticized politicians. The number of negative articles exceeds even the number of neutral ones.
Prosperous Armenia Party MP Gevorg Petrosyan criticized the new standards of Armenian history subject”. He, in particularly, noted: “Arayik Harutyunyan, you, as a reformer, are nothing.”
According to the press, Arayik Harutyunyan avoided meetings with the ruling fraction, the media also added, that the leadership of the fraction finally managed to “detain” him.
According to the associate professor of the YSU Chair of History of Armenian Church and Ecclesiology, the statement of the Minister of Education and Science Arayik Harutyunyan that the subject is united, does not correspond to the word “unification” judging by the presented criteria. “The numbers speak for themselves, not us: 255 is not 336 hours. This is not a unification.”
Lilit Poghosyan regrets that a subject made as a result of 15 years of effort and enthusiasm suffers such a fate with the single stroke of a pen.
Criticism on this topic has been voiced by other prominent specialists of the field.
Touching upon Arayik Harutyunyan, human rights activist Avetik Ishkhanyan noted that he had warm relations with him, but the human rights activist first disappointed last year, when the minister met with the heads of Armenological institutes and chairs. According to Ishkhanyan, the arrogance and contempt of the minister towards those present was vivid. “Now I do not want to refer to the various concepts provided by the ESCS Minister. In recent days, Minister Arayik Harutyunyan has also shown his simplicity.”
The publication was prepared with the support of “Hayrenik” Development Foundation
